I know some say cheese and seafood don’t mesh, but this certainly does. We first had this dish at The Capitol Grille and I wanted to take the chef home with me. So, so, so, so amazing.

This is by no means a healthy dish. In fact, this is probably one of the worst dishes you can eat. In moderation? Sure it may be fine, but when you wake up and eat it for breakfast? Not so much.

I swear I didn’t do that.

This is my re-creation.

You need some of these guys.

I get them ‘thawed,’ – unfortunately I don’t live in an area where I can get them fresh. Can you even get them fresh? See, I don’t even know things like that.

I’ve always lived in a bubble.

Semi-creepy. Slimy.

These puppies are a PAIN to work with. Or maybe I just don’t do it properly. But I hate getting the meat out of the lobster.

I am seriously afraid that it is going to come alive and eat me. I jump about 800 times when cleaning them.

For those of you that may have suggestions on how I can get this meat out without getting slimy lobster juice all over me, please talk. I just cut the shell to pieces and try to get out every last piece of meat possible.

Because I want to inhale it. I want to consume lobster is every possible way I can.

Eventually, after 9o minutes of frustration, cursing, and kicking the dishwasher (only because it’s under the sink), these are born.

My mouth waters just looking at this.

Now comes the depressing part.

You have just spent $30 on lobster tails, and when you chop up the meat, it amounts to this.

Seriously, half of the lobster tails just disappeared into a black hole. How annoying.

Before we proceed, I should mention that making this meal is QUITE a feat. I have 3 pots on the stove at once, and the timing has to be perfectly coordinated so that the lobster meat won’t dry out.

So, backtracking, here is what I do first.

Buy some cheese.

We have so much cheese. The amount of cheese we have in our refridgerator is a sin. I could feed a small, malnourished country with my cheese.

That doesn’t sound right. You know what I mean.

These are the cheeses that I have found work the best in this dish.

Gruyere. LOVE this cheese. It came upon the recommendation of my mom, who was a music major in the seventies, therefore consumed gallons of fondue.

We don’t need to mention what else she probably consumed being in the ‘arts’ in the seventies.

Gruyere, sharp cheddar, and in this case, parmigiano-reggiano.

I grate this all up, and I will tell you that you certainly need some arm strength.

So do a few pushups in the weeks leading up to this.

Then grate.

I use alot of cheese. Alot is an understatement.

I am talking probably about two-and-a-half cups of cheddar, one-and-a-half cups of gruyere, and one-and-one-fourth cups of parmesan.

I also eat about one-fourth cup of each during the process.

So we now have chopped lobster and truckloads of shredded cheese.

I begin with the cheese mixture.

Add about 2 cups of heavy cream to a double boiler.

And add a half-block of cream cheese.

Add the shredded cheese to the heavy cream mixture.

I add handfuls and let each handful melt before adding more.

Handful in the bowl.

Handful in my mouth.

Repeat.

While the cheese sauce is melting, I start to saute the lobster.

I know. We don’t need words here.

I add in a chopped shallot, minced garlic, and just a tiny bit of salt.

Add in the lobster and only saute for a minute or two.

Oh, good Lord. Could that look any more delicious??

I saute on medium-high for only a few minutes before adding some liquid.

I usually use Chardonnay, but I don’t discriminate.

This is similar to the cheese.

Splash in the pan.

Splash in my mouth.

In a classy way, as in, straight from the bottle.

In the meantime, the cheese mixture is melting superbly, and sometimes it needs to be thinned out.

It needed to loosen up!

I set the lobster off to the side, off of the heat. Now is the time to boil your pasta.

I love this kind of pasta. It is fancy and doughy and wonderful. It makes me happy.

Whatever pasta you use, make sure you don’t over cook since it will also cook in the oven.

The cheese now looks like this, which means we can assemble our mac ‘n cheese.

I layer half of the pasta in the dish, then add in half of the lobster mix with half of the cheese.

Mix it up.

Add the other half, then add these glorious creatures.

Panko. If you aren’t using panko, you gotta make the switch. You will be so glad. I like to use whole wheat panko. But let’s be honest – in this case, what is the point?

I bake for about 30 minutes. Bubbly, crispy, cheesy. Mmmmmm.

And this is what happens when your husband is still at the gym and you can’t control yourself.

Grate all 3 cheeses. Add 2 cups of heavy cream to a double boiler, followed by cream cheese. Add small amount of the shredded cheese to the double boiler, mixing with a whisk. Repeat until the cheese is gone.

Boil water and cook your pasta. Set aside.

Add olive oil and butter to a skillet on med-high. Add chopped shallot and minced garlic. Add lobster meat and saute for 1-2 minutes or until meat becomes opaque. Add 1/4 cup white wine. Saute for another 1-2 minutes then set aside off heat.

I … I just put on about fifteen pounds from reading this post alone. Thank god I’m too poor to buy lobster, or else I don’t even want to think about what would happen.

I’m usually pretty anti-seafood (my logic: when you’re eating like a burger or pork chop or something, you’re generally eating like 1/320th of the animal it’s from; when you’re eating seafood, you’re not only eating THE WHOLE DUDE, but, chance are, some of his friends & family), but this reminds me of the prawn mac&cheese Hubert Keller made on Top Chef Masters, and thus is an instant drool.

ps: I realize chickens do not fit neatly into the whole “only eating fractions of animals” situation, as I tend to eat like half a chicken at a time. But, look, I just don’t like the bastards.

Oh girl! This is sin on a dish! One of my all-time favorites too and thanks so much for posting the recipe. I’ve never had it outside of a good restaurant, but I’m certainly willing to put my two pounds of cheese worth in!

Being a Maine girl, I can tell you that 1) With a cooked lobster tail, you should be able to pop off the last section of shell, with the fins, and push the meat right out with your finger (but maybe the meat gets stuck to the shell in frozen ones?). Or don a pair of gloves and bend the tail backwards until it breaks open. 2) No, you can’t get an uncooked tail because until they’re cooked, lobsters are just a gelatinous goo inside. You can, however, buy them cooked at lobster places.

A friend and i are planning on gorging ourselves soon for a pre-crazy season feast as we both have other comittments and wont get to see eachother, and we have decided our ingredient of choice will be lobster. I will definetely be throwing the recipe in the ring of suggestions!!!!

Holy cow! I must try this!!! Lobster is the love of my life :) Have you ever tried these on rolls? There’s this food truck in Orange County, CA called the lime truck and they serve this lobster mac and cheese sandwich. It’s to die for. Also slightly cold lobster mac and cheese on a roll with tiny pieces of green apple. It’s so good!!

OMG, my husband took me for a weekend get away to Lake Geneva Country Club in Wisconsin and we had an amazing dinner, my side dish was Lobster Mac….Now, I lust after “it” when I dream at night. When we go back sometime I will order this alone for my dinner> (sorry honey- order your own). But before then, I will have to make us a romantic dinner with Lobster Mac at home so he can truly have his own plate of succulent creamy decadent goodness. Thanks for sharing, I go so excited when I saw the recipe.

I love your blog, you are a great writer and your receipe’e look amazing. I will try your lobster mac, it’s on my bucket list now. : ) I have a receipe you may like called Poor Mans Lobster. It uses Tilapia, boiled in sea salt and vinegar(sounds gross I know but does the trick). It cooks quickly, 5 minutes or so and then drain fish and cover with butter melted and heavily seasoned with Thyme. It sooo taste like lobster and may help to be able to make your dish more often without as much expense. Let me know if you want more info. : ) Blessings, Trisha aka Trishiedarling : }

that just made me laugh so hard. And I am totally with you on the animals..I’m not a HUGE fan of meat. However, my husband likes to think that if he doesn’t ingest 14 chicken breasts and 16 steaks a week, he will self combust.

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About Jessica

I’m Jessica and this is where I share my stuff. You will find a balance of healthy recipes, comfort food and indulgent desserts.

I am madly, passionately, inexplicably in love with food. Bacon makes me beam. Chocolate makes me shout from the rooftops with joy. Vegetables and I are the best of frenemies. My perfect world would include none of them.
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